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Bamtara
Bamtara or "land of finest earth" in Classical Kikale, was a kingdom that formed in the northwest region of Kamagara, along the banks of the Faba river. The name is in reverence of the country's density of high-quality mineral deposits, and the people believe themselves blessed by the earth god Sango, for his gift of this mineral bounty. During the Mfecane, Bamtara was threatened by the growing size of Wawana's Devastation, the winds of the desert turned grazing land to sand dunes and forest to shrubland, making the name of the country seem sarcastic at best. In response, Bamtara became one of the first human kingdoms to develop practical means of reclaiming the desert, rather than relying upon the unstable magic of that time to work the land back to its pristine state. During this time and for many years afterward, Bamtara was the premier power in the region, controlling the trade routes to Mastaz and the largest population, not to mention the mining. However desertification remains a constant problem, and the kingdom found itself in decline after successive wars that caused severe inflation, and weak rulership. History Government and society Bamtara is ruled by an oligarchy of shamans, the majority of which are maskmakers and arcane smiths. Each is said to have been granted the right to rule by Sango. The quirk of Bamtara shamans is their severe asthma which can never be cured - sometimes mockingly called "embers" and "wheezers" by some. Each of the shamans also leads one of several guilds in the kingdom centered around forging, mask making, alchemy, or imbuing. Ascendancy from a low-ranking forgeblower to being a member of the ruling council (if you happen to be a shaman) is in theory meritocratic, as advancing through the guilds themselves "simply" involves producing high-quality work. Ultimately, each of the ruling shamans has created a powerful artifact, their "masterpiece". However economic competition between the guilds (and in turn, their leaders) is considerable and oftentimes contributes to instability and conflicting interests. Society is heavily stratified, forming a caste system which is recognized and enforced by the code of laws. At the bottom are the wonto, or slaves. Many of these are debtors, who can eventually work their way to freedom (though if they don't, their children are often enslaved too) while many others are prisoners of war or subjugated peoples. The wonto have few rights, but generally one isn't allowed to kill or injure them, if only because it damages property. However, abusive slave masters can face punishment (especially in the case of debtors) and the slave can pick a new master to work for. Wonto are often employed as support and labor for military campaigns, working dangerous jobs (like mining, which is a very important part of the economy). Later, as the kingdom declined in power and faced many enemies, wonto were often pressed into service as soldiers, promising freedom in exchange for loyalty. The next rung of the ladder are the horon or freedmen, which form the majority of people. Horon can own land and start businesses, own wonto, and maintain retinues of private soldiers. They also have total freedom of movement. As the horon caste is so large there are many sub-groups within. Generally, if one's father was a blacksmith, the eldest son or daughter is expected to learn the trade, and so on for every specialist craftsman and family. It can be very difficult, in some cases nearly impossible, to escape this expectation, especially as ones' ancestor spirits may pressure them into staying within the family business. Other sons or daughters are often exposed to this too, but in their case it is more malleable and they can often venture elsewhere. The highest rung among the horon are those who own estates and fiefdoms, and these are typically recognized by the state and given protection in return for mining and agriculture quotas, and maintaining enough able-bodied men to be called to arms in emergencies. Internecine wars were not unheard of, and in most cases permitted so long as the oligarchs do not feel like their business is being disrupted by it. Horon are quite respected in Bamtaran society, as they do much of the actual production, and artifice is highly valued in the culture. The highest tier among normal folk are the wadekalu - rough translation, knights. The wadekalu are horon who have sworn an oath of service and fealty to the shamans, and act as their bodyguards, caretakers, henchmen, and so on. Essentially, whatever the shamans want them to do. In return the shamans give them a good salary, protection from the law (to some extent) for them and their families, and access to luxuries and good education. Some say that being one of the wadekalu may actually be a better life than one can expect among the guild leaders - a life of failing health and constant stress with little reprieve. However, joining the ranks of the wadekalu is very difficult, and comes with a lot of obligations and responsibilities of its own. Being born a shaman does not immediately grant one membership of Bamtara's elite society, although it nearly guarantees that you won't be one of the wonto. In some cases, slaves which give birth to a shaman will have the child forcefully taken from them and raised by one of the guild families instead, however in other cases the opposite can happen and such a thing may guarantee freedom. Simply depends on time and place. Becoming a shaman later in life meanwhile is treated much differently. Overall, Bamtaran society can be seen as very meritocratic, as there is a lot of upward mobility between the castes, although joining the shaman elite is mostly a matter of luck and birth, escaping slavery is possible and downright commonplace, and it is possible for a horon to earn the respect and skill to join the ranks of the wadekalu. Economy The currency used in much of Bamtara is the mithqal, which represents a pouch of 4.5 grams of Feda (gold) dust (this is a little more than a Venetian 'ducat' in real life). Coinage was never adopted in the kingdom, instead the feda nuggets and bars produced in the kingdom's heartland are immediately turned over to the state, in exchange for an equal weight of feda dust. The practice of weighing and bagging dust - henceforth mithqals - has been ongoing since long before the inception of Bamtara in the region, in large part as an effort to reduce inflation, since dhuha is so common in the kingdom. Despite this however, mithqals nonetheless inflated to a good degree, to the point that other materials, like Sokuna (salt) and Keda (copper) become equally valuable, if not more so, in some parts of the kingdom. This is especially the case in the capital region, where mithqals can only buy a little over six times their weight in Sokuna. Sokuna is imported to the capital from mines located deep in the Devastation, staffed by seasonal workers under the payroll of local lords, and surviving off food imported from state-run granaries. In the eastern portion of the kingdom however, keda is the dominant medium of transaction. 100 mithqals could buy 60 bars (of a standard size) of keda mined in the east. In effect, the economy of Bamtara had three equally important currencies, which had varying exchange rates based on the inflation of mithqals. The domestic trade and exchange of these resources were the backbone of Bamtara's economy and made its industrial strength possible. Culture Above all things, Bamtarans love to create. It is considered the highest talent to be able to take some chunky rocks out of the ground and shape them into something beautiful or powerful. They take great care of all their possessions, in part because material wealth, especially that earned through ones' own labor, is of prime importance. They are also noted for their reluctance to cause destruction - Bamtaran armies rarely raze cities to the ground, and may take great care to avoid damaging buildings which impress them during a siege. This is in part because Sango, the patron deity of Bamtara, is the god of forgery, of creation, not of destruction. To the Bamtara it makes more sense to say, "Why take what you can build?" Military The commander-in-chief is typically the ruling shaman most experienced in matters of war, or simply the most influential. The Army: Organization and equipment The army is largely organized along feudal lines, and made up mostly of horon lead by wadekalu with varying degrees of wonto acting as auxilia or logistics and labor units. Recruitment is drawn from the 16 provinces, formed into banner armies known as the tontawogone meaning the 16 Shields. Each banner army was further divided into a varying number (due to the feudal nature) of vitawabolo - war-arms - which consisted of a body of horon levies commanded by an ndekalu (singular form of wadekalu). The war arms varied from 200 to 800 men. Horon soldiers were expected to arrive at muster with their own equipment, rather than being armed by the state. As such the quality and type of troops often varied greatly depending on where they were raised from. Provinces in the north produced the bulk of the army's archers, equipped with composite bows and poison-tipped arrows, as well as skilled engineers. The east mustered infantry equipped with shields and either a sword, mace, or short stabbing spear, in addition to javelins. Finally the heartland in the southwest was responsible for the bulk of the non-ndekalu cavalry arm, as well as some of the better-armoured heavy infantry companies. The wadekalu on the other hand had most of their equipment provided to them by the shamans and their guilds, making them by far the best-equipped soldiers Bamtara could bring to field. They formed most of the heavy cavalry, fighting with lances and sabers and wearing metal armour of all types, by comparison to horon cavalry which typically fought as skirmishers, scouts, or simply to pursue routing forces, armed with javelins and swords and wearing cotton armour or hide-scales at best. For most of Bamtaran history, wonto were barred from frontline service, but filled a lot of important roles on campaign. Each war-arm had large numbers of slaves accompanying the force, ordered to carry weapons and ammunition, help dig trenches and build forts, help erect bridges, maintain camps, etc. Many wonto were also used to help boost soldiers morale - prostitution was one way a wonto could earn some money to pay off their debts, however some skilled slaves would also dance, play music, or otherwise entertain the troops. Wonto were not allowed a share of the loot when the army won a battle or captured a city. In later periods, some wonto were permitted to fight as full-time soldiers equipped by the state, albeit not as well as the wadekalu. This was simply due to the fact that there were not enough horon to fight in the years after Bamtara had already reached its zenith in power. Eventually, wonto developed a reputation for being more reliable than the wadekalu, used to put down rebellions and maintain a standing army during times of peace. In exchange for their loyal service, many wonto would become freemen - regardless of any debts owed or whether they were a foreigner. Shamans, of course, often fought as part of armies, either as the leaders, or in support roles as casters. Due to their asthmatic condition, some environments may prove especially difficult for Bamtaran shamans to move through and cast their spells - some may even suffocate. It also means the army tends to march over shorter distances than may otherwise be possible. For this reason, shamans typically only join armies if their magic is seen as absolutely critical to victory. Since the majority of Bamtaran shamans are craftsmen anyway, this is probably for the best, as they can do much more from home, crafting masks and magic weapons or armour for their officers to use in battle. Occasionally however, pyromancers and others are brought along when the situation demands it. As these tend to be low-ranking shamans in Bamtaran hierarchy, they are usually forced to go on campaign by their superiors. During the height of Bamtaran power, it was capable of putting to field 45,000 soldiers, 8,000 of which were mounted. Grenadier corps Not all wadekalu were equipped as cavalry soldiers. Some small formations, consisting entirely of wadekalu with a handful of supporting horon-caste engineers and alchemists, take up the crossbow instead. These are the elite of Bamtara, known as grenadiers for their specialty in launching grenades of all types over long ranges using their crossbows, as well as deploying potions at these ranges to explode with the desired magical effect. Comet-tipped armour-piercing bolts are also used. The Navy The navy consists of a small coastal battalion and a much larger river squadron. The navy is primarily built around rapid transportation of troops, taking advantage of the Faba river and its tributaries to bypass rough terrain, poor infrastructure, and enemy strongholds, as well as aid in mobilization to defend the country. Indeed, if the river squadron is working overtime, the entire army can be mustered to any part of the kingdom in a matter of days - journeys which may take weeks by foot, traversing wilderness filled with hostile magic. Tactics The Bamtaran army was very flexible. When facing rough or hostile terrain, the light troops from the northern highlands would be used to scout and even spearhead an advance, supported by the river squadron if possible. These troops made use of poisoned arrows, a tactic learned from their ancestral enemies, but also as most of the archers were hunters and beastmasters in their civilian life. As a result, their bows, as well as their arrows, do poorly against armoured and shielded foes. Flaming arrows are also used during sieges. Despite the grenadier corps, Bamtara was usually outclassed at range, and should close the distance as soon as possible. Infantry were often positioned in the center, with the cavalry at the wings. Spears were usually kept at the flanks and held in reserve, while swordsmen (or macemen) were to advance towards the enemy and throw a volley (or two) of javelins before closing in. Swordsmen would often keep the last throwing spear and hold it in the shield arm, creating an extension of the shield's defense while giving an alternative attack. The most common swords were broad double-edged slashing blades, wider and heavier near the end than at the base. The most prestigious arm however were the mounted troops. Mounts varied greatly, depending on the soldier's preference and experience, but also the terrain the army was traversing and what was available at the time. Fast creatures, especially those that leap and jump, were the favorite of the wadekalu (at least those which fought mounted).